SPIDER-MAN

Hey guys, I’m back after a few days away from the site. There’s no particular reason why I haven’t posted all week but life just gets busy sometimes you know what I mean. I don’t know how Rob over at Joeaday manages to post a review every single day without fail. I’ve seen a pretty big dip in my site views the past few days as well so I guess there’s a direct correlation. Hopefully if I get some new reviews up you’ll come back to me.

Today I’ll be reviewing one of the most recognizable toys in my collection, Spider-Man. This particular figure is from “The Amazing Spider-Man” movie based line that was out last year. There were multiple variations of Spidey included in the line. Many were naturally based off of the look of the movie but there were also quite a few based on classic comic appearances. This figure is of Spidey at his most basic and recognizable. I’ve considered picking up one of the movie inspired Spider-Men, especially now that they’re marked down in most stores, but I haven’t yet. I quite liked the new look from the movie but the figures look to scrawny to really appeal to me. The only movie inspired figure that I picked up was The Lizard.

I was very happy to see that Hasbro included some classic looking Spider-Men amongst the movie based figures because I really needed a good classic Spidey in the 3 3/4″ scale. None of the red and blue Spideys released as part of the Marvel Universe line have impressed me; they’re just too skinny. I’ve liked the Iron Spider-Man figure, and the Spider-Man 2099 and the Scarlet Spider, but for some reason they haven’t been able to produce a decent looking regular Spider-Man.

Well they finally got it right with this figure. To me, this is Spider-Man. I understand that a lot of people think of Spider-Man as the teenage super hero and feel that he should be skinny. I like reading old comics starring teen Spider-Man and I have no problem with them making movies and cartoons starring a younger version of the character but I did not grow up with a teen Spider-Man. When I started buying Spider-Man comics 25 years ago he had already graduated college and was just a few months away from getting married. I always saw Spider-Man/Peter Parker as a man, not as a kid. My ideal Spider-Man is about 30 years old, is an experienced super hero and isn’t a total loser. When I look at this Spider-Man, that’s who I see.

I think this Spidey figure is intended to be pretty generic and not based on any particular look but when I look at it I see an Alex Saviuk Spider-Man. Saviuk was a regular Spidey artist of my youth who drew “Web of Spider-Man” for years. He wasn’t necessarily a favorite artist of mine at the time but he drew in a nice classic style, not far off from John Romita’s iconic version. It’s mostly the eyes that make me think of Mr. Saviuk. Every artist has a different way of drawing Spidey’s eyes, from Ditko’s near squint to McFarlane’s boarderline ridiculous half mask eyes. The eyes on this figure look like Saviuk eyes.

The figure is appropriately beefy. This looks like a Spider-Man that could hold his own on the Avengers and show the Black Cat a good time. The proportions are great and the colors are just right. The web pattern on the costume is sculpted right into the mold which works great here. It allows for the web detailing to be showcased with a simple black paint wipe. The only thing this figure could use is a little more articulation. I don’t need him loaded with joints but I don’t think a swivel waist and articulated ankles is too much to ask for. Spider-Man should be able to move at least as well as a standard G.I. Joe. That aside, great figure. 8 out of 10.

Lastly I want to mention why I picked this figure today. It gives me a chance to tell you about my birthday (yes, again) This past Sunday I had a joint birthday party with my brother Doug whose birthday is February 1. We went out to dinner with the family and it was nice. Doug and I exchanged presents and the bastard outdid himself again. I told him he could get me one of the movies on my want list, either Amazing Spider-Man or Dark Knight Rises. Well he got me both. And on top of that he ordered me a DVD online after reading one of my toy reviews. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed a Brian Pillman figure and in the post I mentioned how I liked Pillman a lot when I was a kid but that I could barely remember any of his matches. So Doug immediately tracked down a copy of “Brian Pillman: Loose Canon”. A DVD featuring a documentary about Pillman plus 6 hours of matches. Needless to say I will be well versed in Pillman’s career the next time someone asks me about him. I’ve recently recommended to you, my dear readers, that you should find yourself a girlfriend like my sweet Vanessa. Well I’d like to add that you really should get yourself a brother like Doug while you’re at it. Love you bro.

Nice Spidy. Web Of Spider-Man from that time period is one of my favs as well. I used to pick them up every month at the gas station in the village we lived in at the time. The selection was pretty slim. Web Of, Amazing, and the odd Spectacular for Spidy books. And Punisher. Most of the other titles I can recall were DC and I wasn’t a DC kid then.

I miss the days of three stand alone core spidey books. Once they began crossing over constantly it kinda ruined it. Do you by chance still read Spidey comics Paul? Dan Slott recently had an old “web of” villain, Facade, appear in a single panel of Amazing. Facade’s secret identity was never revealed in the old web comics though they insinuated it was a big deal. It always bothered me and i wrote into Amazing praising/cursing Slott for dangling this 20 year old loose end in front of me. Thy published my letter on the letters page.

I agree the MU Spiderman figures are too skinny but the one I have as my “default” Spidey is one from the Sentry comic pack. I don’t mind that figure in all its elongated wonky proportions, it works for me to enjoy it. Also I got the movie accurate ASM super articulated figure which is great but something about it keeps it from awesomeness.

I skipped the Sentry pack mainly because I didn’t want another crappy Spider-Man. I assumed it was the same one I already had 2 or 3 times over. May have to give it a second look, I need Sentry anyway.

Well I had skipped the single carded regular Spideys before the comic pack. After I made my Tarantula custom I suddenly realized there wasn’t a Spiderman to fight! So I went hunting at the stores and what i found was SM vs Sentry 2-packs or singles of Iron, 2099, and symbiote suit. So it was mostly lack of choice. Fortunately after I bought the set I really took a shine to it. Plus it looked neat in fight scenes. LOL

I’m a little behind on my reading here so I almost missed this one. You’re welcome bro….you’re worth it on most days 😉 I was just going through and showing Alex the latest entries and he said “There’s Hammerhead!”…so the old name was better for sure.